Patients in Tim Hortons: Need for emergency preparedness
Posted March 2, 2011 7:23 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
NEW WESTMINSTER (NEWS1130) – Treatment of ER patients in a coffee shop should serve as a reality check for government; that’s according to an emergency preparedness expert after hearing our story about treatment in Tim Hortons at Royal Columbian Hospital.
Steve Prentice questions how we would handle a major disaster if one of the Lower Mainland’s most important hospitals can’t handle general overflow.
He says money needs to be spent on health care plans before a disaster strikes to make sure our region doesn’t crumble into chaos like in Christchurch — a developed city in a developed nation.
“We are reactive by nature, so it’s only when these things happen that we suddenly spring to life and say ‘Oh my goodness, what are we going to do?'” he explains. “Costs of what seem to be invisible concerns are always the first to get cut; it’s a matter of waiting until the roof leaks before starting to patch the roof.”
The province says an emergency room expansion will happen at RCH, but adds using the hospital’s Tim Horton’s as overflow space is acceptable for now.
